Lockbolt fastening systems have been around since at least the 1930s and were invented by Louis C. Huck, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,114,493. Lockbolt fastening systems utilize two fasteners—a lockbolt pin and a lockbolt collar—for clamping together two or more structures via a common hole. Typical lockbolt pins include a head and a grooved shaft, and lockbolt collars come in a variety of forms, including flanged and flangeless lockbolt collars. To assemble a lockbolt, the lockbolt pin is inserted through the common hole, the lockbolt collar is placed over the shaft of the lockbolt pin, and a lockbolt installation tool is used to urge the lockbolt collar against the structures being fastened and swage, or crimp, the lockbolt collar into the grooves of the lockbolt pin's shaft, thereby fixing the lockbolt pin and the lockbolt collar together. In some systems, the lockbolt installation tool also breaks off a portion of the shaft of the lockbolt pin that extends past the lockbolt collar after the lockbolt collar is swaged onto the lockbolt pin.
Lockbolt fastening systems are used in a variety of industries, including the aerospace manufacturing industry. In some applications, several hundred or even several thousand lockbolt assemblies may be installed within a discrete area of a product being manufactured. In some such instances, access to an installation site may be confined, overhead, or otherwise difficult. A manufacturing technician's need to serially retrieve lockbolt collars from a supply and manually place them on corresponding lockbolt pins may be time consuming and awkward.